Friday, February 10, 2006

Finns show common sense

The Finnish government and labor market organizations agreed on Friday to relax the restrictions on the free movement of workers from new member states of the European Union.

After Estonia and other nine countries joined the European Union on May 1, 2004, Finland applied restrictions to the free movement of workers from eight new EU member states by two years as a transitional period.

The Finnish government and labor market organizations agreed on Friday that Finland as a whole would stand to gain from foreign labor and that an extended transitional period would have increased the size of the gray economy.

All parties agreed not to renew the transitional period limiting the free movement of workers from new EU member states. Finland will lift labor restrictions from May 1, and opens its labor market to new EU member states.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, urged on Feb. 8 more western European countries to open their labor markets to workers from new EU member states.

It's the principle of the thing. More opportunities are better than none at all, and this sets an example for other EU countries.

Anyway, the Finnish economy is mainly based on technology, science and research. That means most Finns are involved in those sectors, leaving opportunities for those with less high-tech skills - like plumbing or bus-driving for example. It also means there are lots of opportunities for highly-educated Poles, whose skills go to waste here.

No, there probably won't be a giant wave of Polish immigration to Finland, but hey, I expect the salaries for the jobs Poles will be going for are much higher there than they are here.